My AP English 3 students today debated on if starting a riot would create change or if it would simply distract. They mentioned they feel helpless. Nothing they do will change anything. As they talked, I couldn't help but think of V for Vendetta, a popular graphic novel that several of my students are currently reading. It follows the story's protagonist, an anarchist in a Guy Fawkes mask named V. They try to bring down the fascist state they live in in order to convince those around him to abandon fascism in favor of anarchy.
We were discussing Greta Thunberg's speech at the UN Climate Summit, and my students did not understand why she was speaking until someone brought up that it's not so much her that matters but the message she's delivering and the symbol's she's become. She is the face of future generations suffering from climate change. When my student said that, I was reminded of when V dies and Evey takes their place without unmasking them. She simply sits silently in front of a mirror and smiles. At that moment, she becomes the symbol of freedom that V was. Right now, Greta is a symbol of freedom, freedom from pollution, freedom from the old days, freedom from corruption, so forth and so on.
The moment has always stuck in my head because Moore and Lloyd, the respective writer and artist behind the novel, did so without any speech. They utilize what graphic novel scholar Scott McCloud calls moment-to-moment panels. We see Evey take slow steps, sit down in front of a mirror, and smile. The novel doesn't show Evey putting on V's mask. It only shows her smiling, and we as readers rely on our own closure to realize what she has done. On this entire page, there are no speech or real major action-to-action panels. It is all just these slow, small movements.
V for Vendetta has long been hailed for its themes of freedom and rebellion. The fight that V and others go through to regain their freedom is a near-impossible one. The graphic novel encourages those who read to pursue their own freedom and to rebel. It questions what we consider freedom and how we take that freedom for granted. It is one strife with struggle and death. While Greta and my students' is not yet at that point, it has the possibility of becoming so if carbon emissions continue to rise. Greta's speech had little to do with freedom, but my students' took it as an example of freedom.
One student, in particular, called out the rest of the students saying they have a voice and have to learn how to use it. She wants them to use theirs. At that moment, I saw my student taking on Greta's face and building upon it just as Evey took V's mask and continued his work. It was a parallel moment to Lloyd's panels, this slow but also sudden transition. While I hope my student doesn't go blow up Big Ben, I do hope she starts making changes and starts pushing for her own freedom.
We were discussing Greta Thunberg's speech at the UN Climate Summit, and my students did not understand why she was speaking until someone brought up that it's not so much her that matters but the message she's delivering and the symbol's she's become. She is the face of future generations suffering from climate change. When my student said that, I was reminded of when V dies and Evey takes their place without unmasking them. She simply sits silently in front of a mirror and smiles. At that moment, she becomes the symbol of freedom that V was. Right now, Greta is a symbol of freedom, freedom from pollution, freedom from the old days, freedom from corruption, so forth and so on.
The moment has always stuck in my head because Moore and Lloyd, the respective writer and artist behind the novel, did so without any speech. They utilize what graphic novel scholar Scott McCloud calls moment-to-moment panels. We see Evey take slow steps, sit down in front of a mirror, and smile. The novel doesn't show Evey putting on V's mask. It only shows her smiling, and we as readers rely on our own closure to realize what she has done. On this entire page, there are no speech or real major action-to-action panels. It is all just these slow, small movements.
V for Vendetta has long been hailed for its themes of freedom and rebellion. The fight that V and others go through to regain their freedom is a near-impossible one. The graphic novel encourages those who read to pursue their own freedom and to rebel. It questions what we consider freedom and how we take that freedom for granted. It is one strife with struggle and death. While Greta and my students' is not yet at that point, it has the possibility of becoming so if carbon emissions continue to rise. Greta's speech had little to do with freedom, but my students' took it as an example of freedom.
One student, in particular, called out the rest of the students saying they have a voice and have to learn how to use it. She wants them to use theirs. At that moment, I saw my student taking on Greta's face and building upon it just as Evey took V's mask and continued his work. It was a parallel moment to Lloyd's panels, this slow but also sudden transition. While I hope my student doesn't go blow up Big Ben, I do hope she starts making changes and starts pushing for her own freedom.
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